The Secret Of The Flames
by sammy7656
Summary: follows story of the movie -cant choose the movie for this stroy- Inkheart, but with a new character; Astrid Clarity: an elemental witch that creates human figures out of flames, rock and water, and dances with them for entertainment. but her powers are limited when she is read out of Inkheart shortly after her best friend is. Dustfinger X OC reviews encouraged
1. Intro Astrid

**INTRO ~ ASTRID**

****Witch. Whats the first thing that pops into your mind when you hear that? A woman with green skin? Long nose and warts? A flying broom stick or a black cat perhaps? Yes, there are ones like that, but there are also ones that are kind and not filled with hatred for others.

Astrid Clarity is one of the few good witches. She lived happily as a peddler and performer in her own story (Inkheart) as an Elemental Witch. she would create creatures out of rock and water for the children to play with in the market while she preformed. But her rue passion was dancing with the fire.

She first started dancing with fire after her mother taught her how to create human forms with her powers. First teaching her to sculpt the shape of the body, then the hands and feet. Then finally the features of a face and clothes.


	2. The Fire Tamer

**CHAP 1 ~ THE FIRE TAMER**

One day, while Astrid was preforming in the Castle of Ombra, a fire-eater named Dustfinger was putting his torches away, when he saw a child chasing after another child made of water. He cocked he head at this very unusual sight. He then turned and saw another child made of rock playing with another human child. _Have I gone mad?_ The fire-eater asks himself. He then notices the crowd that is circled around what seems to be the glow of a fire.

Curious, Dustfinger made his way through the dense crowd. Finally breaking through, he sees a woman with red, yellow and orange skirts dancing with a man made of fire, as other children made of rock and water dance around them near the crowd. The man made of fire is extremely detailed; he could make out the mans clothing, his face even his hands and they're individual fingers. _His hands... they're interlocked with the woman's... but how? Hes not burring her at all... _He watches in awe, spellbound by the woman and the man of flames.

The water and rock children twirl then flip in the air as the fire man throws the woman into the air. She flips, then she is caught very gracefully by her flaming partner. The flames set her on her feet and bows to her, taking her hand and gently kissing it before he flickers out. The crowd applauds and the children of rock and water bow, then disappear the same way. The woman bows and smiles to the crowd, thanking them for watching her show. The mass of people begin to wonder around to the other attractions.

Dustfinger approaches her as she picks up a hat with then coins her audience rewarded her with; the human children helping her pick up the coins on the ground. One child stays behind. "That was so cool! How'd ya do it?" The little girl asks with gleaming eyes. Astrid smiles and reaches into a pouch tied to her waist. She takes out an orange star shaped crystal and says "Magic..." She hands the girl the crystal and winks. The girl carefully takes the crystal and says "Thank you!" Before running off to her parents.

Astrid looks up at Dustfinger. "Good afternoon, my good sir. How may I be of service to you?" She asks standing up. Dustfinger shifts his weight to his other foot, itching to ask a thousand questions. "The man made of flames... how _did _you do that?" He asks, feeling like a little kid. She smiles. "Whats your name, might I ask?" She turns, gesturing for him to follow her. He hesitates, then follows her, Gwin nudging his chin almost as if to say _I smell another animal! Its much bigger than me!_

"Dustfinger, might I ask of yours?" She stops in front of a white tiger cub with a bag hanging from its mouth. "Astrid." She says petting the tiger. The tiger purrs and moves its head into her hand. "So... would you like me to give you the answer?" Astrid asks, putting the coins into her pouch and the hat into the bag. Dustfinger shifts the straps of his bag on his shoulder, making sure it hasn't been stolen.

"Will you give me the same answer you gave the little girl?" Astrid stands and searches the market for a stand that sells meat. "I wasn't lying to her if that's what your implying... I practice a specific type of witchcraft that my mother taught me when I was a little girl." She says distracted, still searching for the stand. Nalah, her tiger cub, was getting hungry and Astrid didn't want her to eat Dustfinger's marten.

"You're a witch? what kind?" Dustfinger asks. "AH HA!" Astrid exclaims making Dustfinger jump. "Sorry... Wasn't it obvious? I'm an Elemental Witch..." She says making her way to the stand. Motioning for the tiger to follow her. "I can control the four elements; you know; Fire, Water, Earth, Air?" She glances over her shoulder, looking at Dustfinger. "By the looks of you, you also like to play with fire, yes?" She says stopping in front of the meat stand. "One raw pound, please." Astrid says to the butcher He nods and they exchange coins for meat.

Dustfinger takes a step back, allowing her to turn and start to walk again. "Um, yes..." He says following her to the gates leading out of the palace, heading for the Wayless Wood. Astrid rips the meat in half, giving the half to Nalah.

She turns and looks at Dustfinger again, this time stopping and cocking her head at him. "What more do you want from me? You saw the show, I answered your questions. What do you want?" She asks suspicious; cooking the other half of the meat with the flames in her hand. _Great! She thinks I'm going to steal from her!_ Dustfinger thinks. Astrid looks him up and down. He wears his usual Black and red shirt and pants. Gwin nudges him again. "I'm sorry, I know you've probably heard this millions of times, but... could you teach me how to handle fire better?" She sighs, and rips off a small piece of the cooked meat. She purses her lips in thought, handing the meat to Gwin. The marten snatches it from her fingers.

"Where are you headed?" She asks, taking a bite from the meat in her hands. "No where in particular..." Dustfinger replies. She turns, grabs her bad from the tiger and throws it over her shoulders. "Do you have everything you travel with?" Astrid asks. "Yes..." Dustfinger says a bit confused. "Alright then!" She says walking to the Wayless Wood. "I'll take you to my cottage, there I'll teach you what you wish. Just remember, I'm not your maid and I don't pay for things that you get either... Do we have an understanding?" She asks looking over her shoulder and making sure Nalah was at her side. "Of course, I can pull my own weight, I promise you." He assures her. "Good. I don't need a dead beat mooching money off of me." She says.


	3. The Whispers Of The Fire

**Chap 2 ~ The Whispers Of The Fire**

Astrid didn't know why she decided to help Dustfinger. She resorted her reasoning to the voice of the fire whispering to her: _~This one is strong, willing, very truthful... he really wishes to learn my secrets for himself and only himself. I will allow you to tell him my secrets, but only if you are willing to teach him.~ Alright I will teach him, but he will merely be a student and only a student._ She had thought back, a bit confused as to why it chose this traveler.

But without questioning it further, she brought Dustfinger deep into the Wayless Wood where her cottage awaited them. It was getting dark out, and the moon was rising. "Alright, why don't we spend the night here for the time being." She said setting her bag down. Nalah lies down yawning. Astrid sits next to her and starts a fire with a snap of her fingers as Dustfinger sits on the forest floor, looking into it; almost begging to hear its whispers. Gwin nudges his chin. Distracted by the flames before him, he puts his hand to the ground allowing the marten to climb down his arm and disappear into the darkness.

_~This one is very interesting... you can see that he longs to hear me; its written all over his face... Tell him that I will trust him.~ _Astrid looks over at Dustfinger as Nalah shifts and lays her head on her masters lap. She clears her throat, trying to get his attention. He looks up, a bit embarrassed. "It says it'll trust you... the fire I mean." He cocks his head at me, extremely confused. She smiles and looks into the fire. "Fire has a voice, not many humans can hear it, so don't feel bad if you cant." She says stroking Nalah's head. The cub nudges her head into Astrid's lap; telling her master shes tired.

Dustfinger nods, then looks at Nalah. "Where'd you get her?" He asks gesturing to the tiger. Astrid looks down at Nalah who's nodding off in her lap. "I found her, here, in the Wayless Wood... her mother rejected her and left her to die. I came across her when she still needed to feed on milk." She smiles, then looks up at the fire eater. "What about you? How'd you come across your marten?" She asks resting her head on her shoulder. "Gwin? Well, I was passing through here and he stowed away in my bag..." He chuckles. "... hes stayed with me ever since." He smiles.

Astrid rests her head on her other shoulder and says "We don't have to go much further, were almost there... till tomorrow; get some rest." She moves Nalah's head onto the ground and lies next to her. "Good night Dustfinger." She says closing her eyes. Dustfinger lies on his back and says "Good night Astrid." Looking up at the stars through the branches.

**~Dustfinger's POV~**

**.:DREAM:.**

I'm walking through the Wayless Wood; though i don't know where I'm headed, I feel as though I'm going the right way. The trees part to a short narrow path where Astrid awaits my arrival. She smiles to me and puts out her hand, waiting for me to take it. I give her a nervous look. She smiles again. "Welcome home." She says, taking a step towards me.

**~Astrid's POV~**

**.:DREAM:.**

I'm running. Trees blur by me as I thrust one leg in front of the other, my lungs craving oxygen. God only knows what the hell I'm running from; but what ever it is, I cant trust it. I suddenly trip on a trees root and thud to the ground. Damn dreams and their obstacles... Powerful hands pick me up roughly and slam my back to the nearest tree. I open my eyes only to meet Capicorn's. "Get your fucking hands off me!" I shout, trying to push him away. He thrusts me into the tree again. "No more running you fucking bitch!" He growls.

My eyes fling open and my heart races. Its pitch black, and the only thing I can see is Nalah and the glowing red ashes. I sit up rubbing my face, trying to get my regular heart beat back. Nalah looks up at me. "Are you alright master?" Her glowing jade eyes ask. I smile to her and stroke her head. "Go back to sleep... I'm fine." I whisper to her. She looks at me with an unconvinced look then slowly lays her head back.

**~Narrators POV~**

The sunlight nudges Dustfinger, waking him quite early in the morning. He rubs his eyes, trying to clear them as he props himself up with his free hand. He looks over to the opposite side of the pile of ashes, at the sleeping Astrid. It was then that Dustfinger realized he never _really_ looked at her before.

Her hair was a deep brown with faint red streaks running through it; it fell a few inches below her shoulders. On her right ear, she wore studs and rings from her lobe to the bar running through the top of her ear. On her right nostril, she wore a ring with red and orange patterns on it. With her yellow, orange and red skirts, she wore a black corset that only covered her stomach. Under the corset was a white flowing long-sleeved shirt, that had no shoulders. On her feet, she had black open-toed heels with black and silver ribbons twisting up her legs, and disappearing under her skirts.

Astrid inhaled deeply and lazily opened her eyes. Dustfinger gazed into the two pools of sapphire. _Those eyes... they could pierce through a mountain!_ He thinks to himself. She sighs and stretches, the tiger cub getting to her paws and stretching as well; yawning with a tiny growl. "Sleep well?" He asks. Nalah sits next to Astrid, nudging her head into Astrid's chin. "I suppose so... you?" She asks scratching the back of her head. "Fine..." He says.

Astrid gets to her feet and slings her bag over her shoulder. "We're almost there, I wanna get a early start." She taps her thigh a few times. Nalah responds, leaping to her feet and licking Astrid's fingers.


	4. The Cottage

**CHAP 3 ~ The Cottage**

****After about an hour of walking Dustfinger, Astrid, Nalah and Gwin finally make their way to a narrow path, leading to a small cottage. The small home is both covered and surrounded by various plants. Astrid sighs in relief at the sight of her home. A gray wolf walks out of the cottages doorway. Seeing it, Dustfinger stops dead in his tracks as it starts to growl in his direction.

Astrid walks to the wolfs side. "These are our guests Bruits... Be nice..." She whispers in its ear. Nalah then disappears into the woods, breaking into a jog; determined to get to where shes headed. The wolf quiets itself and sits, never taking its eyes off of Dustfinger. Astrid motions for Dustfinger to follow her as she walks into her home.

He slowly makes his way past the wolf and through the doorway. Bruits trots into the cottage, looks at Dustfinger, then goes in the same room Astrid disappeared into. The cottage is a little cramped, but its warm and homey. You first walk into a kitchen with various flowers both dried and alive hanging from the rafters. On both ends of the kitchen there are hallways, one leading into Astrid's bed room and the other leading into the spear bedroom.

Dustfinger takes a seat at the small dinning table while he waits for Astrid to return. She comes back with a brown Ball Python around her neck, lazily flicking its tongue as it rests its head on her shoulder; Bruits following her. "You might as well make friends with him." Astrid says walking down to the spear bed room. Bruits sits in front of Dustfinger, staring at him intently. "And how, pray tell, do I go about doing that?" Asks Dustfinger. "Let him sniff your hand!" She calls from the bed room, putting out a new blanket and pillow on the bed.

"Please tell me your joking..." Dustfinger replies looking at Bruits. She comes back out to the kitchen. "Give me your hand." She says putting out her own. He looks down at it, then at her suspiciously. She sighs and grabs his hand, putting it in front of the wolf. Bruits looks at it then prob's his nose into his palm, inhaling deeply. Then moves and begins to sniff his leg.

Astrid smiles. "Now, was that so hard?" She asks smugly, walking to a pantry. Dustfinger's eyes never leave the mammal, in fear of loosing his leg. Bruits moves back to Dustfinger's hand, licks his fingers in approval and lays on the ground at his feet.

Nalah walks in with a bucket between her teeth, and walks up to Astrid. She paws her owners leg gently. Astrid looks down at the tiger then puts the snake up and onto one of the beams above her. "Good girl!" She says, stroking the tigers head and taking the bucket of water from her. "You've got quite a thing for animals, huh?" Dustfinger asks placing his bag on the table in front of him, causing Gwin to poke his head out. Astrid chuckles. "What was your first clue?" She asks sarcastically as she fills a kettle with water from the bucket.

Nalah trots over to Bruits and nudges him with her nose. The wolf does nothing in response, obviously irritated by the tigers presence. She sits, almost as if to say "You're no fun at all!" and puts her head in Dustfinger's lap. Astrid lights a fire in her fire place, snapping her fingers and placing the kettle on a tray hanging over the flames.

"Shes taken quite a liking to you Dustfinger." Astrid says with a small smile taking out a few jars of herbs as spices. Dustfinger looks down at the cub purring in his lap; realizing he was absent-mindedly scratching her behind her ear. "I'd say so." He replies with a small chuckle.

**.:NIGHT:.**

**~Dustfinger's POV~**

****"Come with me." Astrid says with a slight smile, walking out the door and into her yard. I follow her and Bruits out behind her cottage to a ring of large rocks. She puts her finger out horizontal to the ring and slowly points up, making a fire. She sits on the ground propping herself up with her hand. The wolf site near the back of her knees and lays his front legs and head on her legs. I sit next to her and gaze into the flames before us.

"Look into the fire and tell me what you see." Astrid says scratching the wolfs head. "I see flames..." I say confused. "What else?" She asks looking lost in the fire. "I see... life..." I try. "Exactly... there is life in every flame, whether it be from a match or a bonfire." She says pausing. "Many people say that it is dangerous and brings nothing but trouble... but that is only the fate determined by the person controlling it. If you_let_ it be dangerous, it will do so." She explains.

The fire turns blue; weak. "You need to give it a conscience, or it will burn everything in sight." The flames rise high into the sky, turning they're normal yellow; emphasizing her point. "But how do you give it a conscience if your someone like me?" I ask. The flames return to the size it previously was. "Its like a child... you have to baby it... keep it from harms way... keep it to a point where you can guide it in the right direction... little things like that." She says.

Wolves howl in the distance and Bruits quickly sits up and howl back, long and loud. **(Inner Sam- that's what she said! Sam- shut up! your ruining the scene!)** Astrid closes her eyes in extacy. Finally, Bruits finishes and lies back down. Astrid opens her eyes and smiles shyly. "I love the sound of their howl..." She says. "It reminds me of a family checking in on everyone... Never leaving anyone behind." She smiles again. I nod with a slight curl to the corner of my lips.


	5. Roxanne

**CHAP 4 ~ Roxanne**

**.:5 YEARS LATER:.**

**~Astrid's POV~**

The Castle of Ombra: my favorite place to preform. I quickly formed children of rock in a big circle around me, the crowd starting to gather. My dance partner of flames appears before me. He bows to me and I curtsy to him. The flames puts one of their hands on my hip, the other holding my right hand. We wait a few minutes, letting the crowd gather, giving them a good look.

The children of rock bow to the audience and the flames starts to twirl with me. I'm only 5 minutes into my act, when a man with shoulder length wavy blond hair wearing black and red clothing walks into the circle of children. _Dustfinger?_ He taps one of the rock children's shoulder. I make the child stop dancing and look up at him. Mean while, I seem oblivious to the man talking to one of my performers, while I dance with my flaming partner.

Dustfinger points to me, talking to the child. The child cups its hands around his ear whispering something to him. Dustfinger rubs the child's head and stands as it goes back to dancing. He makes his way to me and the fire man. My partner releases my hand. I twirl and then caught by Dustfinger. The fire man looks at Dustfinger angrily as he dances with me. _There's something different about him... Those scars! Where the hell did those come from?_

I put the thought aside as he stops us about to kiss my hand. The fire man pushes him away from me quickly. The crowd laughs as the two quarrel and a water man introduces himself to me. Dustfinger taps the fire mans chest, pointing to me and the water man. They then get into a fist fight as I make a seat of rock. I sit on it, crossing my legs and putting my elbow on my knee, resting my head in my hand. I blow my bangs out of my face annoyed as the crowd laughs as the water man flees. The two men come back to me, begging for forgiveness. I turn the other way and put my nose in the air. A big bulky man of rock then comes, making Dustfinger and the man of fire flee.

The crowd applauds us as we bow. The elemental men and children disappear and Dustfinger kisses my hand as he bows to me. As the crowd begins to disperse I jump up and onto the fire-eater hugging him tightly. "Where the _hell_ have you been? I haven't seen you in_ AGES!_" I exclaim as I release him. He chuckles. "I met a woman, Roxanne... Come, I want you to meet her." Dustfinger replies.

"Hang on, let me get Nalah." I say turning. I put two fingers in my mouth and whistle. The full grown tiger trots over to me with my bag and pouch of coins in her mouth. She sits and her head comes up to my waist. "My god! Shes gotten so big!" Dustfinger says scratching the large felines head. Nalah purrs in response.

"So wheres the lucky girl?" I ask excitedly following Dustfinger. He stops next to a woman with straight long black hair, who wears a red dress and a thin head band around her head. "You must be Roxanne! My lord, you're absolutely gorgeous!" I say taking her hand and smiling. Dustfinger smiles. "Roxanne, this is Astrid Clarity. She taught me almost everything I know about fire." Dustfinger introduces. Roxanne smiles. "Its so good to finally meet you! I've heard so much about you!" She said kindly.

Nalah nudges my leg. "You'll have to excuse me for now, I have to find something for Nalah to eat." I say turning. "We were wondering if we could stay the night at your cottage, seeing how Roxanne's house is so far away. " Dustfinger asks following me. I look over my shoulder and smile. "Of course. Anything for an old friend." I reply walking to the meat stand.

**.:AT THE COTTAGE:.**

"I hope the bed in the spear bedroom will be alright for you two, if not I could camp out outside." I say, bringing the ten pounds of meat to a cutting board. "There's no need for you to sleep out in your own yard." Dustfinger says, sitting in a chair at the small table. Bruits walks out, smelling the meat and sits patiently next to Nalah, both animals at least up to my hip.

Roxanne stares at the two large animals like they were going to snap at her at any moment. Dustfinger chuckles. "Its fine, Astrid trained them... They won't hurt you." He reassures her as I feed the animals their share and cook the left over meat with the flames in my hand. Roxanne watches in curiosity as the meat cooks while I grab three plates. After we eat we realize that the moon had risen all the way up and into the sky. Roxanne yawns. "Oh my... If you don't mind, I'm going to bed now." She says kissing Dustfinger and heads into the spear bedroom.

Dustfinger and I begin to talk, catching up on everything that had happened to us in the past five years. Finally I ask the question that was scratching at the walls the moment I saw him. "Where and how the hell did you get those?" I ask, pointing to the three long pale scars on his face. "Basta." Was all he had to say, shivering at the thought of him. It grows quiet for a few minutes.

Nalah nudges my leg. "What is it girl?" I ask the tiger. She looks out the window and back at me frantically, growling in frustration. I look out the window, and instantly regretted it. Out side, Roxanne was making out with an other man. My hand covers my mouth in shock. Dustfinger looks at me. "Astrid? Whats wrong?" He looks out the window, and I can see his heart shatter before me. His sadness quickly turns to anger as he storms out of the cottage. "Dustfinger don't!" I call after him, getting up and running after him.

Roxanne and the man jump away from each other and Dustfinger punches him. The guy takes it, then punches him to the ground, pounding Dustfinger into the dirt. "No! Stop it!" Roxanne yells. Anger boiling inside my, I throw the guy off Dustfinger and knock him out. I then make my way to Dustfinger and help him up. "YOU BITCH! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?" Dustfinger screams.

"Calm down. We need to clean you up." I tell him throwing his arm behind my neck and calming him down. I turn to Roxanne. "You are no longer welcome here." I say simply. Dustfinger and I then walk back into the cottage and Bruits takes his post in the door way. Guard dog mode now switched on.

I lay Dustfinger on the bed in the spear bedroom then rip off a part of one of my skirts, soaking it with water. I carefully blot the dirt and blood off of Dustfinger, treating the little cuts on his right cheek. We say nothing the whole time I heal him. I walk out of the room and start to make a pot of tea. I walk back into the bedroom with two cups of tea.

Dustfinger slowly sits up, staring out at the moon lit sky. I hand him a cup of tea and sit on the edge of the bed. "This isn't the first time this has happened..." Dustfinger says quietly, sipping at his tea. I say nothing. "I caught her twice before, but she never knew that..." He continued. "When I saw her like that again... I just kinda snapped." He explains. "I understand... If I were you, I'd probably end up killing the guy..." I say, trying to cheer him up a bit. Dustfinger chuckles humorlessly. "That's why I only hit him once..." He replies.

I sigh. "I just can't see how she could still treat you like nothing happened after doing something like that..." I say sipping my tea. "... I wouldn't even be able to look at you the same way if I were her..." I add. We stay quiet for a few minutes finishing our tea. When were done I take his cup and kiss him on the cheek. "Good night, see you in the morning." I say before I leave the room.

* * *

**sorry for those of you who liked Roxanne, your all probably like "Y U NO LIKE HERRR?" i. just. don't. i mean come on! she married TWO OTHER GUYS when Dustfinger disappeared! idk about you, but if she were a faithful wife and she truly loved him, then she would wait! so suck it up and deal with her being an a-hole in this story :P ~ A / N**


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